UX Methods
Research and design methods for UX practice
Affinity Mapping
A method for categorizing and sorting qualitative data or observations using an affinity diagram in order to identify themes and gain insights. ## Steps ### 1. Record Record the research from user interviews, user tests or other research method on individual sticky notes. The notes can include anything that's helpful: general information about the subject of the research, observations, quotes, common oversights, and use cases. ### 2. Identify Identify patterns in the notes and group those that are related. Don't over think it — this step is about understanding the data as a whole and groupings can always change. ### 3. Label Once you've organized the notes into related groups, give each a name based on the theme of that group. For example *'people often did X when attempting to accomplish Y'*. ### 4. Insights Identify key insights from the themes. What story do the themes tell as a whole? Once these are defined, summarize them and provide evidence from your research to support each. Don't forget to include design action items related to each!
Card Sorting
A research technique in which users organize topics into groups to create an information architecture that suits their expectations. ## Steps ### 1. Gather Gather the items or topics that the participants will be asked to organize. These items should represent the main content within your information architecture, such as items in a navigation or products in your catalog. Write each item on an individual card. ### 2. Sort Ask the participants to sort the items one at a time into groups that make sense to them. Encourage them to think out loud, as this can give you valuable insight into their thought process. ### 3. Label Once the topics have been sorted, ask the participant to label each group with the term they think best describes it. This step reveals what each participant's mental model is and will be helpful when determining what to eventually label categories within your information architecture. ### 4. Dig deeper Ask the participants to explain their rationale for each of the groupings they created. This helps you uncover why each participant made the decisions they did, identify any difficulties they experienced, and gather their thoughts on any topics that remain unsorted.
Design Principles
An agreed-upon set of guidelines that help frame how a design team approaches and solves problems. ## Steps ### 1. Rally the team together Bring together the team. The more people you can get involved, the easier it will be to ensure widespread adoption. ### 2. Define the criteria of your principles On sticky notes, ask the group to write down the criteria the principles must meet to be valuable. Stick this up so its visible for the next step. For example: must be specific, focussed on user needs, and scalable across systems. Also consider: are these principles for your service, interaction or content design? Or should they encompass all of these areas? ### 3. Diverge For the next 10 minutes, ask each team member to write as many design principles as they can. For example, *'use inclusive language'*, or *'animation must imply how the UI can be interacted with, or it shouldn't be used'*. ### 4. Converge In turn, ask each team member to share their ideas. Stick them up on a wall and group into themes as you go. Next, with three votes each, have everyone dot vote the themes they feel resonate most. ### 5. Refine and Apply As a group, stress-test the principles by applying them to existing or hypothetical new design work. Consolidate the principles where possible and refine how they are articulated until they are clear and specific. Make a plan for how to share these principles so they are always considered in your design practice.
Journey Mapping
A visualization of the process that a user goes through in order to accomplish a goal. ## Key Components ### Lens Describe the user, their motivations and expectations within the specific scenario. For example, Jane (user) is using a ride-share service app to order a ride (scenario) that she expects to arrive at her exact location in 10 minutes or less (expectation). ### Experience Illustrate the actions and emotions of the user across a timeline. Use the Y axis to denote level of delight and frustration (as shown by the dotted line in the image above). ### Insights Identify opportunities to improve the experience. For example, give a real-time location of the driver to reduce the pain of waiting (opportunity). This feature will need to be developed by the product team (internal ownership) and can be monitored with post-ride ratings (metric).
UX Survey
A qualitative method of collecting data about a user's interactions and experience with a website or digital product. ## Steps ### 1. Set expectations Start by giving participants an idea of what you will be asking them, how much time it will take, and how to get in contact if they have any issues with the survey. ### 2. Questions Keep questions as short and simple as possible in order to increase the completion rate and quality of feedback from participants. Questions should be a mix of prompts that require participants to answer from a fixed number of possible response, prompts that allow users to respond however they want. Additionally, be sure to only ask one question at a time! ### 3. Bias Avoid biasing the participants with questions that lead or prime them to respond a specific way in order to get more meaningful data. For example, instead of asking *"what problems did you experience with [feature]"*, ask them to *"describe your experience with [feature]"*. ### 4. Ease-in Start with broad, general questions that are easy to answer to ease them into the survey, before moving on to more thought-provoking questions or those that require more mental effort.
Usability Test
An observational method to uncover problems in a design, discover opportunities that exist, and learn more about the behaviors and preferences of users. ## Steps ### Recruit real users Target and recruit representative users of the product or service you're building. Don't rely solely on usability data from your own your team or company unless what you're designing is intended exclusively for them. ### Simulate real tasks Ask participants to perform realistic tasks using your design. They can be very specific or open-ended, depending on the goals of the test. ### Observe and listen While you are running the test, make sure to listen intently and avoid biasing the participants. Remember to remain neutral. Avoid leading questions. Ensure participants understand that they are helping you test the design and you are not testing them. It can be tempting to give them the answer if they get stuck, but it's more insightful to see how they overcome it. ### Set and measure performance metrics Be sure to measure both the speed and ease at which participants manage the task in addition to what they say about it. How well participants perform doesn't always match their subjective experience of doing so.
User Interview
A UX research technique during which a researcher asks one user questions about a particular topic in order to gain insights. ## Steps ### Define the goal of the interview What exactly are you hoping to learn? Or what are you trying to understand better? Ensure you collect valuable information for your design by making the goal concise and related to a specific aspect of the users' behavior or attitudes. ### Prepare your discussion guide Be sure to prepare questions beforehand that focus around the goal of the interview. Don't be afraid to ask relevant follow-up questions based on the participant's responses. A natural, free-flowing conversation can lead to unexpected, fruitful insights. A general guide of themes to discuss can sometimes be more useful than a list of rigid questions. ### Build rapport with the interviewee Ask them if they've done anything like this before. Reassure them it's no big deal and you'll just be having a chat. People are more likely to open up and provide valuable information once they are relaxed and trust the interviewer. ### Avoid leading questions Don't ask closed questions that are answerable with a 'yes' or 'no', or questions that are too vague to get specific and valuable responses. The goals is to elicit rich, unbiased answers from the interviewee. Open questions start with 'what', 'how', 'when' – or 'tell me about X'.
User Personas
A fictional representation of users whose characteristics and goals represent that of a larger group of users. ## Key Components ### Info: make personas memorable for your team Items such as a photo, memorable tagline, name, age, and occupation are all relevant for the information section of a persona. The idea here is to create a realistic representation of the members of a specific group within your target audience, so this data should be reflective of the similarities they share. ### Details: outline behaviours, motivations, goals and tasks. Build empathy and align focus on the characteristics that impact what is being designed. A bio creates a deeper narrative around the persona. Include behavioral qualities such as motivations and goals, and frustrations or sources of joy that this particular group might have. Additional details could include tasks the user might perform while using the product or feature. ### Insights: include attitudes, quotes and additional context The insights section frames the attitude of the user. It adds an additional layer of context that provides further definition of the specific persona and their mindset. It often includes direct quotes from user research.